Abortion: From a pro-choice perspective

KATHMANDU: FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2021 – Abortion, the topic itself causes debate in the mind of people. When we think of it, the initial thought that runs in our mind is terminating a pregnancy by removing the fetus. Abortion is a very painful topic for everyone who finds themselves facing the moral dilemma of whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. It has been a constant controversial topic for decades with the debate between pro-life and pro-choice.

Pro-life does not support abortion. Pro-lifer’s believe that the fetus has its own right to live and should be brought to this world. Pro-choice on the other hand believes that abortion is the right of the mother. With this, there is a constant debate on abortion and the right to abortion. Few people believe in aborting the fetus only if it has any serious health effects on the mother.

Parents might want to abort for various reasons. Some of which could be not being ready to raise a child, not being financially prepared, underage pregnancies, pregnancy caused due to rape, the health of the mother, or simply unwanted pregnancy. In Nepal, abortion after checking the sex of the baby is also prevalent which is very wrong. Sex-selective abortion is morally wrong but that being said, abortion itself cannot be declared as a crime. Nepal’s government legalized abortion in 2002. Even after legalizing abortion, only 42% of abortion took place legally whereas the remaining took place illegally without former consent.

As a woman and as a supporter of Pro-choice, I believe that abortion is the right of parents themselves and any other third party should not be involved in the process of abortion. An unplanned pregnancy can cause several other problems not only to the mother but also to the fetus. Even after being born, there is no assurance that the child is going to receive basic rights such as proper food, proper shelter, education, etc. in such cases, bringing a child into this world just to neglect it does not sit right with me. If we consider making abortion illegal all over the world, we cannot imagine the mental trauma a woman might go through giving birth to the child of a person who raped her. Imagine a teen having to give birth and having to keep her entire career in line. The fetus even after being born in this world is not going to enjoy living. Both the child and the mother are going to face the consequences of not being able to abort the fetus.

There are various cases of males running away after finding out about the pregnancy. If abortion is made illegal, the mother will have no other choice rather than go through the pregnancy alone. As a feminist and as a believer in the Pro-choice, abortion being as controversial as it is should be made legal and should be the choice of the mother. Pregnancy should be a happy and positive experience for everyone and being forced to give birth because of the law is not right.